The Q and the Grey (episode)
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
 |
| "The Q and the Grey" | ||
|---|---|---|
| VOY, Episode 3x11 Production number: 153 First aired: 27 November 1996 | ||
| ← | 52nd of 168 produced in VOY | → |
| ← | 52nd of 168 released in VOY | → |
| ← | 443rd of 726 released in all | → |
 | ||
| Teleplay By Kenneth Biller Story By Shawn Piller Directed By Cliff Bole | ||
| 50384.2 (2373) | ||
| ← | Arc: Q Continuum (2 of 3) | → |
Q asks Janeway to be the mother of his child to attempt to stop a civil war within the Continuum.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
[edit] Teaser
After witnessing a supernova from the closest distance any Starfleet vessel has ever been, the captain heads to her quarters for the night. When she arrives, she is startled to find Q in her room. He attempts to proposition her with his odd sexual advances, but Janeway tells him to go away. However, he takes this as playing hard to get, and leaves, but with the intention of returning soon.
[edit] Act One
The next day, Chakotay and the captain are interrupted by the appearance of Q again. Q thinks that Janeway is attracted to Chakotay because of his tattoo, and produces one on his face, but bigger, which doesn't impress the captain or Chakotay at all. They both walk out on him.
- "Captain's log, stardate 50384.2. Q's unannounced visits continue. Since I suspect he's up to something more than pursuing me, I've instructed the crew to take every opportunity to uncover his true motives."
Later on in the day, the captain is in her ready room again, and hears a small whining sound from behind her desk. Investigating, she finds a Red Setter puppy waiting for her. Janeway recognizes that it is a "gift" from Q, and remains unimpressed. Q appears again, and tries to coerce her into mating with him. Then, a female Q arrives suddenly.
[edit] Act Two
The female Q disapproves of Q's interest in the captain, and all three go onto the bridge as Chakotay calls Janeway. Another supernova is in progress, and Ensign Kim confirms that there are actually three other supernovae happening at the same time. Janeway grasps the idea that Q is somehow involved in the supernovae, which the female Q confirms. With the knowledge that USS Voyager couldn't outrun the shock waves quickly enough to avoid damage, Q transports himself and the captain to the Q Continuum, leaving the female Q behind.
[edit] Act Three
Janeway finds herself in a recreation of the American Civil War, which is a representation of the Continuum. Q explains that the Q Continuum is at war with itself, and various factions are trying to obliterate each other using powerful weapons. Q also explains that the acts of Quinn (a Q encountered by Voyager before) have brought unrest to the Continuum, with two main sides arising – the ones who wish for individuality and separatism, and the others who want the status quo. Q, unfortunately, appears to be on the losing side, the one wishing for separatism. He then explains that he wishes to end the war by adding Human DNA into the Continuum, and having a baby, something that hasn't been done for over ten millenia. Suddenly the house they're standing in is bombarded with bullets and shellfire and Q is hit and starts bleeding. A voice from outside the house tells Q to surrender, but Q shoots back, and is hit again. Janeway manages to get him out of the house and to a friendly camp.
[edit] Act Four
- "First Officer's log, stardate 50392.7. While we don't fully understand the astrophysics underlying her plan, the female Q has suggested several modifications which may allow Voyager to enter the Continuum."
On Voyager, the shockwaves hit, hurtling the ship off course, and damaging the warp drive. Fortunately there's no major damage, but the female Q has remained on board, and is injured slightly. Her link with the Continuum has been lost, and the crew attempts to find a way into the Continuum to rescue the captain.
- "First Officer's log, supplemental. We've laid in a course for the point in space where the female Q says we can enter the Continuum and find the captain."
The female Q suggests flying straight into one of the numerous supernovae, after explaining that they're not normal supernovae, but echoes of the battle in the Continuum. With a few shield modifications, Voyager enters the Continuum.
Janeway convinces Q that the Continuum should stop fighting and try to find a non-aggressive way to resolve their problems. She then suggests that Q should mate with his female Q companion. The captain goes to the opposing side's headquarters, and speaks to the colonel in charge. He doesn't agree and sentences both Janeway and Q to death.
[edit] Act Five
Just before Janeway and Q are to be shot the next day, the crew of Voyager arrives in the area, fully clothed in period costume, with Q-weapons, and rescues the captain and Q. The Q female and Q mate, simply by touching fingers together. This done, everyone from Voyager is returned to normal space.
Walking back into her ready room, the captain finds Q there, with his new son on his knee, speaking baby words. He thanks her for saving the Q from extinction, and asks her to be his son's godmother. She accepts, and Q and his baby leave.
[edit] Memorable Quotes
"I want you out, but first, get rid of this bed."
"I have no intention of getting between those Starfleet-issue sheets. They give me a terrible rash."
"Since you won't be getting in the bed, I wouldn't worry about it."
- - Janeway and Q
"Oh, Kathy... don't be such a prude. Admit it. It has been a while."
"And it's going to be a while longer."
- - Q and Janeway, as she rebuffs his interest
"It's an overwhelming honor, isn't it? I can't get you out of my mind. You're confident, passionate, beautiful. "
"And totally uninterested."
- - Q and Janeway
"Kathryn Janeway, may I present... Q."
"Not just any Q– his Q."
"We were involved for a while."
"About four billion years."
- - Q and Female Q
"What are you doing with that dog? (pause) ... I'm not talking about the puppy."
- - Female Q, to Q referring to Captain Janeway and the puppy she's holding
"Hmm... well, there is one possibility, but somehow I don't think this rickety barge or your half-witted crewmembers are up to the challenge."
"May I remind you, madam, that this 'rickety barge' and its 'half-witted crew' are your only hope at the moment."
- - Female Q and Tuvok, about trying to return to the Q Continuum
"I understand perfectly. You aren't the first female who's ever had a man run out on her."
"I hope you're not comparing some failed romance in your pitiful existence to my eternal association with Q?"
"You know, I have really had it with this superiority complex of yours."
"It's not a complex, dear; it's a fact."
- - B'Elanna Torres and Female Q
"Well, here's another fact: If you don't stop pestering me, I'm never going to finish, in which case, your association with Q might not be quite as eternal as you think."
"I've always liked Klingon females. You've got such... spunk."
- - Female Q, referring to Lt. Torres
"That's it?!"
"You had your chance."
- - Janeway and Q, after witnessing the Qs mate
"I know that you're probably asking yourself: why would a brilliant, handsome, dashingly omnipotent being like Q want to mate with a scrawny little bipedal specimen like me?"
"Let me guess, no one else in the universe will have you?"
"Nonsense! I could have chosen a Klingon Targ, a Romulan empress, a Cerelian microbe..."
"Really?! I beat out a single cell organism?! How flattering."
- - Q and Janeway
"I know I don't have any right to feel this way, but this bothers the hell out of me."
- - Chakotay, after Janeway said that Q wanted to mate with her
"Commander, I needn't remind you that close proximity to a supernova will crush us whether or not we time it perfectly."
"You're so negative."
- - Tuvok and Chakotay
"You'd be surprised what innovative munitions can be created by one immortal being who's set his mind on killing another."
- Q, to Janeway
"You might call them... galactic cross fire."
"It's terrible, isn't it? "
"But it's also a wonderful opportunity."
"I fail to see anything wonderful about a war."
"War can be an engine of change."
- Q and Janeway, talking about the war in Q-continuum
"I wouldn't if I were you. If their weapons can make me bleed, imagine what they'll do to you."
- - Q, to Janeway, after she tries to protect him after he is shot
"I do believe you're jealous."
- - Q, to Chakotay
"I've never figured out what you see in this big oaf anyway. Is it the tattoo? 'Cause mine's bigger!"
"Not big enough."
- - Q and Janeway, about Chakotay, with Q making a huge tattoo appear on his face
"If it's any consolation, there are those in the Continuum who will remember us as martyrs."
"I'd rather skip that particular honor."
- - Q and Janeway
"Fire!"
"I'm hit, I'm dying!"
"Q!"
"What?"
"They're not firing at us."
"They're not?"
- - Colonel Q, Q and Janeway
"You! Helm boy!"
- - Female Q, to Tom Paris
"You! Bar rodent! Another one of these (pauses briefly when an attractive hologram goes walking by) fruity concoctions."
- - Q, to Neelix
"May we presume that this conflict is also responsible for the weakening of your powers and your inability to return to the Continuum?"
"The Vulcan talent for stating the obvious never ceases to amaze me."
- - Tuvok and Female Q
- Another ironic quote, as the actor also played a Vulcan (Dr. Selar)
"By the way, did I tell you how smart he is? I've already taught him how to knock small planets out of orbit."
"And I thought you were going to teach him about love and conscience."
- - Q and Janeway, about q
[edit] Background Information
- This episode's title is a reference to the Civil War poem "The Blue and the Gray" by Francis Miles Finch (1827-1907). The title also refers to a 1982 miniseries about the Civil War.
- Voyager's crew are only the third starship crew to witness a supernova. The USS Enterprise-D witnessed the Beta Stromgren supernova in 2366 (TNG: "Tin Man"). According to Harry Kim, Voyager set a record for being the closest ship to view one, being less than ten billion kilometers away when the supernova occurred.
- Voyager was able to enter the Continuum by taking warp drive off-line, remodulating the shield emitter to produce a beta-tachyon pulse and releasing a stream of focused antiproton beams into the shield bubble. According to B'Elanna Torres, this would increase the shield strength by a factor of ten, as long as the shield bubble didn't ignite and burn everyone to death. With these modifications, Voyager could fly straight into a supernova and, assuming the timing was right, be sucked into the Q Continuum. It is not known why they didn't use this knowledge – being that the Q Continuum was omnipresent – to exit themselves in to the Alpha Quadrant.
- When Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris and Kim enter the Q Continuum on the "Union" side to rescue Janeway and Q, they wield possibly the most powerful weapons ever used by humanoids, the Q firearms.
- When Janeway and Q are about to be executed, the camera performs a quick zoom on each of their faces. This is reminiscent of many old Western movies.
- According to Peter David's novel I, Q, the female Q is referred to as "Lady Q" while their child is known as "q".
- In this episode Q confirms that the Romulan Star Empire once had an empress.
- Q says that no Q has had a baby for millenia, but Amanda Rogers in TNG: "True Q" was born from two Q in human form only some thirty years earlier and she did end up joining the Continuum. This may be explained by the fact that Q mentions in VOY: "Q2" that the Q experience time differently from normal beings. Q stated that he had spent years with his son in Q-time, even though to Captain Kathryn Janeway it seemed as if he had been gone for less than 15 minutes. So to a Q it would be as if the birth of Amanda Rogers had occurred many millenia ago. Also possible is that since Amanda's parents had been forced to refuse the use of their Q powers, that they had tried to have the baby as "mortals" and this method would not have worked for Q. (Possibly explaining why Q Junior had extensive use of his powers while Amanda had to wait for them). In fact, the episode states that no child has been born in the Continuum, and Amanda was born on Earth, so the statement is correct.
- At one point, Janeway reminds Q that he was the one that introduced the Federation to the Borg, referencing the TNG episode "Q Who" where Q transported the USS Enterprise-D into the Delta Quadrant to show them the Borg threat at the immediate cost of 18 crewmembers. In that episode, Q intimated that the Borg were already on their way, and he merely warned Picard and his crew of the coming threat.
- Suzie Plakson also played the Klingon/Human hybrid K'Ehleyr and the Vulcan Dr. Selar on The Next Generation. Accordingly, in this episode the Female Q comments about both species.
- Ironically, Q's "freedom" forces are wearing Union Army uniforms. The forces interested in maintaining the status quo wear the uniforms of the Confederate Army, considered by the Union forces to be "Rebels".
- When Q is in his Union uniform, his rank insignia shows he is still ranked as captain. Interestingly, this represents a demotion for Q, as the naval rank of Captain is equivalent to the army/marine rank of Colonel. The army/marine rank of Captain is equivalent to the naval rank of Lieutenant. This is the second time that Q has appeared as an infantry captain, having appeared as a United States Marine Captain in Encounter at Farpoint
- Q's speech about having chosen Janeway "out of all the females, of all the species, in all the galaxies" as the mother of his child references a similar speech by Humphrey Bogart in the movie Casablanca.
- This episode marks the second time Q appears on Voyager, besting the number of appearances on DS9. This is likely because while the chemistry between Q and Picard is undeniable, and the chemistry of Q and Janeway mimics that, the chemistry between Q and Sisko was lacking. Q's only appearance on DS9 was largely regarded to be a failure, but Q's appearances did not suffer that same fate making his appearances widely enjoyed. (citation needed • edit)
[edit] Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.6, 5 May 1997.
- As part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek - Greatest Battles: 16 November 1998.
- As part of the VOY Season 3 DVD collection.
- As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Q collection.
[edit] Links and References
[edit] Special Guest Stars
[edit] References
American; American Civil War; antiproton beam; beta-tachyon; chocolate truffle; Cyrillian microbe; Drabian love sonnet; DNA; Empress; Enterprise-D, USS; firing squad; Freedom Faction; godparent; negative density false vacuum; pascal; private; Q Civil War; Q Continuum; Q Junior; Quinn; Romulan; rose; sex; spatial disruption; stuffed animal; subspace; subspace inversion; subspace shock wave; supernova; targ; tattoo; temporal anomaly; Therinian Ice Age; Union Army
| Q-related episodes | |
|---|---|
| TNG: | "Encounter at Farpoint" • "Hide and Q" • "Q Who" • "Deja Q" • "Qpid" • "True Q" • "Tapestry" • "All Good Things..." |
| DS9: | "Q-Less" |
| VOY: | "Death Wish" • "The Q and the Grey" • "Q2" |
| Previous episode: "Warlord" | Star Trek: Voyager Season 3 | Next episode: "Macrocosm" |
